The shortage of student housing has increased by 20 percent in the past year. It turns out from the National Student Housing Monitor, which knowledge platform Kences publishes annually. In total there are now 26,500 homes too few.
The deficit is expected to widen further. In the next eight years it is estimated that there will be another 57,000 students who want to live in rooms. However, the number of houses being built for them is not enough. Until 2025, 16,500 additional student residences will be built.
The shortage is largely due to the increasing number of international students in the Netherlands. The corona pandemic also contributed to the strong increase this year. Due to the lockdown and the lack of physical education, many students postponed leaving home last year. That is why an extra number of students came this academic year who wanted to get a room.
Many students choose not to do their preferred study because it is too far away from their parental home and the chance of a room is small. Director Jolan De Bie of Kences: “This means a waste of motivation and talent.”
High rents
An additional problem is the price of the rent. It consumes an increasing share of students’ incomes. Students currently spend an average of 46 percent of their income on rent. Two years ago it was 43 percent. According to Kences, that increase would have been even greater if rents had not been frozen due to the corona crisis.
Kences also warns of a trend in the type of student housing being built. Self-contained studios are more popular among property developers than rooms these days. De Bie: “Because there is often a lot of loneliness among the students, we see this as a very undesirable trend. For the sake of well-being and social development, it is better for students to live in rooms together.”
emergency shelter
In several student cities, the housing shortage became very acute at the start of the academic year. Hundreds of students had to go to emergency shelters because they couldn’t find a room. In Groningen students even occupy the university building in September in protest against the housing shortage.
There are still 400 students in Groningen who do not have permanent housing, says action group Shelter Our Students. There are 200 students in Enschede.
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